


Setting Sun

by HelenaPlum



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: AU, Actual diversity, Angst, BI SEXUAL JACOB!!, Bella Swan with a Backbone, But with a different name, Characters of color, Cullens with personalities, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, It's still Bella, Not really an OFC, Teenaged love, Teenagers acting like actual teenagers, Twilight Fix it, Twilight Rewrite, Vampires, Werewolves, and an actual personality, charlie isn't a cop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26472718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelenaPlum/pseuds/HelenaPlum
Summary: A rewriting of Twilight, where Bella doesn't have the same name as a labradoodle, and has an actual personality. Twilight Fix-It.Seventeen year old Lucina Swan uproots her life to move to Forks, WA to find stability after years with her flighty mother. Always one to keep to herself, Cina unknowingly stumbles onto the supernatural. Crossing paths with vampire, Edward Cullen, Cina isn't sure if her new obsession is hatred or adoration. Toeing the line between enemies or lovers, Cina struggles to find her place in Forks.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Edward Cullen/Original Female Character(s), Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale, Jacob Black/Bella Swan
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Boiling in my blood

Whenever I thought about death, I always imagined that it would be like Rose from the Titanic, old, weathered and wrinkly, recounting a story of a lost love, surrounded by family. I never thought I would be staring into the hungry eyes of a hunter, pleased with snaring his trey in his carefully planned trap. 

Fear rippled through me as I took several tentative steps towards my pursuer, but a new feeling bloomed in my chest knowing that he may have gotten his prize, but I still outsmarted him. I may die here today, but he wouldn't take anyone else with me. My last few moments may be agony but it would end and my sacrifice would mean something. The person I had come to love, he would be free, and safe. 

Before I could stop myself, a hysterical laugh bubbled up from inside of me and spilled over my lips. Triumph over took the fear. He could have me, kill me, consume me, but he couldn't take this from me.

* * *

Rain. Rain, rain and more rain. That was the perfect way to describe Forks, Washington and a very large reason why I wasn't thrilled about moving there. The other, larger reason was my dad, Charlie Swan. Great guy, mediocre dad, pretty non-existent relationship so I just knew living with him full time was going to be 24/7 awkward fest. But it was better than the alternative. Travel the lower 50 states with my flake of a mother, and her newest and latest husband. With the thought of graduation just in sight, I decided that I'd rather suck it up and deal with the awkward family reunion than constant relocation. 

Besides, Charlie wasn't that bad, he at least tried which was more than I could say about Renee half the time. Just the idea of living the rest of my high school career in small town Forks, WA was majorly depressing. Small town life sounds great, especially for someone like me who keeps to themselves anyways, until you actually live small town life and everyone knows you and is in your business. I just had to keep reminding myself it was better than the alternative, even if it meant moving to a new school in the middle of the year.

I moved into Charlie's over a long weekend, so I had plenty of time to reacquaint myself with Forks. It had been years since I had been back here, Renee absolutely hated Forks and did all she could to avoid it which meant my time here was limited and my memories little. After a while, Renee grew sick of putting me on a plane and sending me away for 2 weeks of the year, so Charlie started visiting me in whatever state we happened to be living in at the time. But it seemed like Charlie spent plenty of time talking about me in Forks, which was part endearing, part weird as people I didn't even know spoke to me like we were life time friends. 

The only people I really had the faintest memory of were the Blacks. Billy, and his wheelchair, Charlie's best friend and his son Jacob. Naturally, they were the first people I became reacquainted with after I moved in. And fortunately for me, they came bearing gifts. 

"What do you think of her, Cina? She's an old gal, but she runs great." Charlie slapped the hood of an old, red and rusted truck while Billy and Jacob waited off to the side, with matching grins. 

"I don't know why your old man thought you'd like this old rust bucket, but she's yours if you want her," Billy cut in, shaking his head in Charlie's direction. 

"It's great, thank you!" I could see Charlie studying me, trying to gauge if my reaction was genuine. He seemed shocked but pleased when I gave him a one-armed hug in thanks. It really wasn't much, definitely older than the cars I'm sure my future classmates would be driving but it was still thoughtful and a car of my own. A way out of Forks. 

"Jake, show Lucina how to drive the beast, me and Charlie have important things to discuss." Billy grinned from his wheel chair, as he patted the case of beer in his lap. 

Despite being a year younger than me, Jacob Black towered over me, tall and thin. He wore his long, dark hair in a single braid down his back, and had a hard face, even as a teen. A strong brow bone, hard jaw line, and high cheekbones, Jacob could have easily been modeling on high fashion runways instead of standing in front of me in a tattered flannel. He had an easy smile though, that lit up his whole face and reminded me that despite his good looks, he was still just a teenaged boy. 

"Come on, it can be a bitch to start," he was like an excited puppy, tossing me the keys to the truck and running around to the passenger side and jumping in like he was ready to go on a long road trip. 

I followed suit, although not as quickly or eagerly and struggle to hop up into the cab, sticking the keys in the ignition. 

"Maybe Charlie should invest a ladder for you to get in and out," Jake snickered, clearly proud of his little joke. 

"Funny, but he will be too busy paying for your medical bills if you keep it up," I turned to flash him a sweet smile so he knew I was joking, mostly. People often told me it was hard to tell when I was joking, and I didn't want him to tell his dad that Charlie Swan's daughter threatened to incapacitate him. 

Jacob snorted, and opened his mouth to retort but closed it with a grin when he saw the look on my face. 

"The clutch sticks a little, so you have to push down pretty hard...."

* * *

By the time Tuesday rolled around, I was more than ready to start classes and get out the house. Not that living with Charlie was bad, just dull. He was the typical bachelor, worked late, ate frozen dinners and parked in front of the TV to watch whatever sport was in season. I wasn't the best cook, but after years of living alone with my mother, I had picked up a few easy things. Other than getting the truck, going to the grocery store with Charlie was the highlight of the weekend and the most exciting thing we did. 

I hadn't slept well the night before, anxious for my first day at a new school. After a while, I figured I would get used to this, Renee and I moved around a lot, but it never made it any easier. I spent most of the night tossing and turning until the sun started to peak up over the trees. Honestly, it was so foggy and gloomy, it was hard to tell when the sun started to rise, but then I heard Charlie, always an early riser, and eager to get out into the woods, get up and leave for work. 

Like the anxious, worrier I tended to be, I had already mapped a route from the house to Forks High School and did a practice run last night so I knew it only took me 10 minutes to get there, which meant with getting up so early, I had time to shower, eat a healthy-ish breakfast and make it to school, with extra time to go to the office and get my class info. In theory, I even had time to style my hair and put on make-up but that would require knowledge on how to do that, so I planned to skip that bit. 

Instead, I would stand in front of the mirror for an additional five minutes and analyze every part of my face and worry about what people would think about me. Would someone make fun of my slightly pointed chin or square jaw? Would a stylish senior make a quip about my limp dark brown hair that held just the barest hint of a curl? Without a doubt, someone would comment on my paleness, probably ask why I wasn't tan from living in Arizona for the last two years. I decided to wear my hair down, to help hide my ears that I felt like were too big for my head. The nice thing about wearing my hair down meant it brought more attention to my eyes, the only feature of my face that I liked. 

The one of the nice things about my mother, she had a sense of style, and had helped me pick out an outfit for my first day. She was probably more boho-chic than most people in Forks, but even though her life was usually a frazzled mess, she never looked like it. With some new baseball wife money, she had helped me pick out a few clothes that would be Forks, aka rainy weather approved. Gone were the days of tank tops, shorts and flip flops. Now I wore dark jeans stuffed into black boots with delicate pink roses painted on the sides (Renee hated them of course), a heather grey long sleeve with a deep V-neck, and a black leather jacket that was sure to become my best friend in the rain. 

Breakfast was a quick affair, flavored yogurt topped with a bit of granola. On the counter rested a few bills for lunch on top of a handwritten note from Charlie wishing me a good first day. It was only a sentence and signed with Dad, but it was a sweet gesture that caught me by surprise. I tucked the note and money into a new backpack that Renee also insisted on buying and ducked out into the rain to start the truck.

Still unfamiliar with the roads, I drove probably slower than most people's grandmothers but still made it to school with time to spare. The parking lot was empty, which came to a huge relief to me. I could easily duck into the office, get my classes and find my first class without the added pressure of everyone gawking at the new girl. My class in Arizona was three times the size of my class in Forks so I knew I would stand out, especially being Charlie's long-lost daughter come home to Washington. 

By the time the other students started arriving, I had already found my locker, and was waiting outside the door to my English class. I had studied the map closely, and already had my route planned to get to the rest of my classes of the day. It took some of the stress off my shoulders, knowing I wouldn't have to walk down the halls, nose buried in a map to find my way around. The harsh florescent lights didn't do much to combat the sheer dreary gloom and doom outside, but the rest of the students of Forks High seemed unbothered by the weather, filtered into the school, all laughs and smiles. 

My new English teacher seemed surprised to see me waiting there for her to unlock the door, before half the class was even at their locker but she let me in with a smile and gave me my assigned seat. My leg bounced anxiously under the table while my classmates started pouring into the room, all stopping to stare at the weird new girl. I willed my cheeks not to burn with embarrassment while I waited for everyone to be seated, their heads swiveled in my direction. 

"You're Lucina Swan, right? The ranger's daughter?" A blonde boy, with a baby face asked me as he tossed his backpack onto the empty desk next to mine. 

"Yeah, it's just Cina though." I pursed my lips together in an awkward sort of smile, exactly my kind of greeting. I didn't have the best people skills; I was better when I kept to myself. Not many people appreciated my snarky sense of humor, I don't think. 

"Cina? That's cool," blonde boy flung himself into the seat next to mine, a friendly smile on his face, clear he wanted to chat. 

"Yep, just Cina." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Lucina was always such a mouthful, my mother's way of trying to sound fancy and elegant despite being neither of those things. I thought it sounded pretentious and snooty. 

"I'm Mike, Mike Newton. My family owns the sporting goods store in town." Mike stretched over his desk to offer me a hand. 

I had little desire to camp, or do anything remotely outdoorsy, especially in this weather but again, I kept my comment to myself and just shook his hand limply. Luckily, I was spared anymore questioning when Mrs. Harrigan called the room to attention and started the lesson. I noticed Mike kept peering over at him, waiting for an opportunity to jump in and start talking again so I tried my very best to look attentive and absorbed in the class work. 

I wasn't the best student, mediocre at best, but English was probably one of my stronger subjects. With all the moving we did, it was even harder for a naturally quiet person like myself to make friends, so I read a lot. Half the books on the syllabus provided to me, were books I had already read and had essays saved on my laptop at home on for. It was probably considered cheating, and in poor taste, but I felt like I was already suffering enough living in Forks, I at least didn't have to suffer through anymore English essays. 

At least that's what I told myself.

Mike cornered me after class ended, hand outstretched to see my schedule. It seemed that I had already made a friend without even trying, although I wasn't sure exactly how mutual it was for me. 

"Cool, we have trig together next, I'll show you the way," he shot me a full-mouthed grin, like he was doing me such a huge favor. Clearly, he had never met anyone with anxiety and didn't stop to think that I had already figured out my whole day's route. 

"Lucky me," I mumbled before I could stop myself, but somehow Mike Newton found this funny and just laughed. 

"You're from Arizona, right?" He questioned me, maneuvering through the crowd of students, and still managing to be loud enough to be heard over other's excited chattering. 

"Kinda," I shrugged, gripping the straps of my backpack, trying to avoid bumping into everyone. "I lived there for the last two years with my mom," I clarified as we rounded a corner and escaped the large group of students. 

"That's cool, I bet the weather is a culture shock," Mike laughed again, clearly not thinking talking about the weather was lame. But maybe I was being too mean. I resolved myself to try a little harder, he was obviously trying to be friendly and accommodating, even if he was pretty obnoxious about it. 

"You could say that, yeah. I miss the sun already."

"The summers aren't too bad, you'll get used to it in no time!" He was so positive, I almost believed him. Maybe there would be a time in the future, where I grew to love Forks and it's dreary, constant wet weather, but I severely doubted it. 

"Right in time for me to leave for college to somewhere the sun exists," I quipped as he held open the door for me to our math class. He was kind of like an overgrown retriever, but maybe Mike wasn't too bad. At least I could tell Charlie that I made a friend. 

"Ah, Miss Swan! Our newest student!" Mr. Varner, the trig teacher boomed at me the second he saw me walk through the door. Instead of being nice and giving me a seat, he made me stand in front of the class room while everyone else filed in and then made me introduce myself. It was bad enough that I absolutely hated math, but this gave me a personal grudge to hold against him. 

I hated introducing myself. 

At least this time, I was seated next to someone considerably less talkative than Mike. Her name was Angela Weber, and she was a quiet Asian girl with glasses, and a sweet face. At a few points, she saw that I was completely lost and wordlessly turned to help me. We made quick introductions in the last few minutes of class and she offered to let me sit with her at lunch which was a huge relief. That was the one thing I couldn't plan ahead for. 

Unfortunately for me, she sat with the ever-chatty Mike Newton and a few of his friends. He happily introduced me his group, a girl named Jessica who pounced on me instantly and starting quizzing me about my life. A boy named Eric who I had to threaten not to make me a feature in the next edition of the school paper. Another boy named Tyler who seemed just as eager as Mike, and another girl named Lauren who barely spared a glance at me. 

I was only half-heartedly listening to the conversation around me (while mindlessly giving Jessica one-word answers) when I first noticed  _ them _ . 

They glided in effortlessly, and it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. They were all so painfully and inhumanely beautiful. 

"Oh, those are the Cullens." Jessica cut across my thoughts, her voice half dreamy, half obvious jealousy. "They are all adopted, and they are like together-together. It's totally weird." 

"Adopted?"

"Yeah, Dr. Cullen and his wife, they are like some weird foster care match making service," Jessica let out a little harsh laugh. "The blonde one is Rosalie, she is a total mean girl," said the fellow mean girl. She gestured to probably most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Rosalie had long blonde hair, styled in effortless and weightless curls. Her skin was pale, paler than mine which made the dark red stain of her lipstick stand out even more. "The big guy is her boyfriend, Emmett."

Jessica had nodded towards the biggest of the group, thick and muscled. Emmett had dark black skin, dark curled hair that was cropped short on the sides and a booming laugh, clear that he was laughing at something Rosalie said. "Alice is the little Asian one," Jessica clearly liked gossiping about the Cullen family and it didn't seem bothered explaining them to me one by one. Alice was indeed small, shorter than me, but had the grace of a ballerina, she was like a lithe fairy, floating across the cafeteria. Like Rosalie, her skin was pale, but she had dark hair cut short under her ears and a twinkling smile. "She's dating Jasper, he's weird and he's actually related to Rosalie." 

Weird, but beautiful. Jasper also had blonde hair, and pale skin like his sister but his hung in his face which remained stoic and statuesque, almost like he was having to concentrate on something really hard. "And that one, is Edward. He doesn't have a sister to date."

Somehow, behind all belief, Edward Cullen was even more beautiful than his siblings. I felt like my brain was short circuiting looking at him, but couldn't bring myself to look away. He also wore his bronze colored hair that seemed to curl on the ends, longer, but well-kept and swept behind his ears. His eyes were dark, startling against his nearly translucent skin. He had high cheekbones, and a jawline that could cut diamonds. He was all model, with his classically beautiful Victorian looks. The corner of his mouth twitched, almost like he had heard all of Jessica's little tirade but he glided right past us, barely sparing a glance in our direction. 

"They stick to themselves, no one else is good enough for them apparently." Mike cut in, with a roll of his baby blues. 

"If I looked like that, I would too." The thought came out of my mouth before I could filter it. The rest of the table looked at me with a raised brow before Mike burst out in laughter. 

"I told you, she's funny!"

I couldn't remember a time anyone had ever described me as funny, mostly just rude, but I went along with it, laughing weakly like I hadn't just said they were all ugly and I wouldn't be sitting with them if I was better looking. Luckily for me, the rest of them picked up their conversation and I didn't have to contribute much else. Not that I could form proper thoughts with Edward Cullen on the brain, my eyes naturally kept drifting over to him, but he never once looked away from his family towards my direction. 

Biology was after lunch, another class I shared with Mike, which he was all too happy to point out and escort me again. Thankfully, Mr. Banner didn't make me introduce myself, and instead directed me to the only table missing a second person. Seated next to one, Edward Cullen. For a second, a half of a second when our eyes met, I swear I felt a bolt of electricity run up my spine. It felt like time slowed but sped up all at the same time. He looked back at my curiously, for only a moment before a look of pure pain crossed over his beautiful features. 

"Grab a seat next to Mr. Cullen!" Mr. Banner gestured over to him, clearly oblivious to his student's distress. Edward now stared pointedly ahead, one hand clasped over his mouth and the other gripping the side of the table so hard I was sure he could snap the edge off of it. Weary, I sat next to him, and then watched as he scooted his chair as far away from me as possible. 

I turned to look at him again, now less stunned by his good looks, and stunned by his bad manners. I could feel my eyebrows knitted together in confusion, a frown on my lips but he refused to even glance at me, clearly too focused on trying to break our table than to acknowledge how rude he was being. Rather than acknowledge him, I turned away from him quickly, using the dark curtain of my hair to block him from my eyesight. Jessica had said that it was Rosalie who was the mean one, but clearly Edward also had a problem that she failed to mention. 

The rest of the lesson went on like that, Edward next to me, clenching his pale fists against the table, against his palm, against his leg and clearly avoiding the very sight of me. I was gearing up to finally say something to him when the bell rang, but he was faster than me, faster than anyone and was nearly out the door before the bell could even finish. 

"What did you do to Cullen, I have never seen him act like that," Mike snorted as he joined me at the door, to walk me to yet another class we shared. 

"I don't know, maybe he hates the smell of my shampoo." I retorted, sarcastically making Mike laugh again. Clearly, he was laughing at anything I was saying at this point.

"Hmm, hates the smell of strawberries?" He had leaned over to give my hair an obvious and very creep whiff. 

"Okay, ew. Stop it." I was on edge after spending a whole period next to someone who clearly hated me for no reason, and Mike's puppy dog act was grating on me so I elbowed him hard in the side, which he annoyingly just laughed at as he led the way to the gym. 

Other than lunch, this was what I was dreading the most. I hated gym class, and gym class hated me and my two left feet. People took it far too seriously, and I was not talented enough to participate in anything more than refereeing. I could keep score, but that was about it. And unfortunately for me, it was basketball day. Before the class was done, I had stoved my fingers more times than I could count, and scraped up my knee after falling to the ground at least three times. But my team quickly learned that I was not the one to pass the ball too, so there was that. It didn't stop me from getting hit in the shoulder by a basketball though.

After the disastrous ending to the day, I was more than ready to go home and crawl into my bed and properly plan to fake my own death to avoid coming back but I still had one more stop. The dreaded office to turn in my new student paperwork I had to have teachers sign off on throughout the day. The red-headed secretary was still there, clicking anxiously through the screen while Edward Cullen leaned over the desk, talking in a lowered angry tone. 

"I'm really sorry, it's just not possible to switch out of your bio class at this point in the year," the secretary was overly apologetic, probably because he was so good looking. Now that I had heard his voice, I couldn't blame her. 

"Clearly, it's fine. Nothing can obviously be done." His tone was short, but still polite and he turned to walk away, stiffening at the sight of me. He paused for the quickest second and glided out of the room, clearly giving me a wide berth. Confused, and angry I hastily tossed my paperwork onto the counter and chased after him. Did deodorant wear off? Sweating from all the nerves? Was something about me so offensive, he HAD to change classes?

I had spent the last hour dodging basketballs, and trying not to break a leg, and the previous hour being treated like a leper by some stuck up boy who clearly thought he was better than me and anyone else, and my temper was frayed. I hated Forks, I hated the weather, I hated this school, and more importantly in this moment, I hated Edward Cullen, and his effortless beauty and his terrible personality.

"Hey!" I called out after him, skidding to a halt (and almost tripping) when he whipped around to face me. He looked like he was in pain again, straining against himself to hold back some sort of guttural moan, but still he said nothing. "Why are you being such a dickhead to me? You don't even know me!" I shouted after him, but didn't take another step to him, my instincts telling me to stay exactly where I was. 

He let out a humorless laugh, but said nothing and turned away again, muscles flexing under his pale skin. "You're a real ASSHOLE!" I shouted after him again, trying to provoke him into turning around and explain why he hated me for no reason, but stubbornly he kept his momentum and was out the door before I could start to catch up. Impossibly fast, he was out of the doors and nearing the parking lot by the time my clumsy feet followed him out the door. 

Angrily, I stomped to my truck, climbing in and slamming the heavy metal door behind me before letting out a shrill scream of frustration. What is with this place?

* * *

Apparently, my acting skills were up to snuff, because Charlie seemed to believe me when I told him that I had a great first day. I told him about my new "friends" and he commented that the Newtons were a nice family. He didn't know much about Angela Weber, her family wasn't in the sporting good or hiking business but he seemed pleased that I spoke to enough people to remember names. I purposely left out Edward Cullen's rude behavior but brought up the Cullens to get his reaction to the beautifully strange family. 

"Oh, Dr. Cullen's kids? Good bunch," he mumbled between bites of the spaghetti I had made for dinner. "Forks is real lucky to have Dr. Cullen, great doctor. Him and his wife adopted all those kids too.”

“Yeah, I saw them at school today,” I tried to pass off nonchalantly as I twirled a noodle around my fork. 

“Nice kids, whole family keeps to themselves. They camp a lot,” that was a good quality as far as Charlie was concerned. The Cullens could be mass murderers but they liked hiking and camping so they were a-okay by Swan Standards. 

I wanted to ask more, probe to see if my father had ever had run-ins with Edward, I couldn’t get the look of repulsion on his face out of my head. But it was clear that Charlie didn’t interact with them much, and he had hit his quota of words allotted for dinner time. So we finished off the garlic bread in silence. 

It wasn’t so bad living with Charlie, awkward at times. But not as bad as I thought it would be. He packed up the leftovers and cleaned up after dinner and sat in front of the tv to watch basketball. It left me time to theoretically work on my homework, but instead I laid in bed and wondered what I did to Edward Cullen to make him hate before I ever spoke a word to him. 

I never had anyone act that way to me before and it rattled me. I wasn’t the most social person, I only had a few friends back in Arizona. But I never had anyone outright act that hostile towards me either. I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t think of one thing that would have set him off and I didn’t want to give him another thought, truthfully. 

But I couldn’t stop obsessing. I didn’t know if it was the unwarranted, unplaced anger or if it was the spark of electricity I felt in the first half a second our eyes met. Rationally, part of me knew that part of this line of thinking was because of how ethereally beautiful he was. The pallor of his skin, smooth and porcelain. The way his bronze curls lightly brushed the sharp line of his jaw. Even his dark eyes that looked at me with pain and disgust, were beautiful in a scary sort of way. 

I didn’t want to think of myself as so shallow that I was only consumed with thoughts of the Cullens (I refused to single out just Edward) because he was good looking, but I knew it played a part. Instead I chose to focus on unjustifiable hatred. It was still a little shallow, but it was the more acceptable line of thinking. 

I spent the night tossing and turning, falling asleep with the image of Edward Cullen’s pained face in my mind. 


	2. Leaving me Breathless

Tree branches shattered upon impact against my body as I tore through the woods. I barely remembered the end of the day, I had left biology in a rush, much faster than I should have in front of other humans. It had been one of the few times that I had been successful in completely tuning out the drivial thoughts of the children around, but I couldn’t think about that. 

I had to focus on not slaughtering them all. 

Ever since I caught  _ her  _ scent, I had to fight my Vampiric instincts. I thought of every way I could have murdered every student in our biology class, just to get a taste of her blood. To savor it. To sink my venom coated fangs into her veins and drain the blood from her body. 

I don’t even remember what I said to Emmett, just that I tossed him the keys to my car and tore out of the building as the bell rang. I could have made it home in a flash, but I forced myself to slow and run only at a slight inhuman pace. I needed time to clear my head, the fresh air to fill my nostrils.

To get rid of Lucina Swan’s smell out of my lungs.

Even just thinking her name summoned her scent, no amount of air could make me forget how she smelled. I ran with my eyes closed, having no need to see the path in front of me. The second my eyes closed, the face of the girl swam in front of my eyelids. I had to forcefully shake her out of my head. 

Of course, I had seen her in the thoughts of the students of Forks, excited for a fresh face in a small pool of childhood friends. I hadn’t paid her much mind, trying not to linger too long in anyone’s mind. I didn’t particularly care about the head ranger’s daughter, I didn’t care much about any of my “fellow” classmates, to be fair. 

I pitied the girl when I realized she would have to sit next me in Biology. Rightfully so, most humans instinctively knew to avoid my kind, allured but repulsed. Captured by our beauty but trusted that gut feeling of danger by getting too near. 

I planned to be polite, but distant, as was my way, the only way to get through decades of repeated high school torture. I wasn’t planning on her to smell so appetizing, to feel the physical pain of resisting the urge of drinking her blood. Lucina hit me like a truck, except I would have been able to hold off the truck and come out unscathed. 

I didn’t feel unscathed after my encounter with the girl. 

I felt thirsty, a thirst I never felt before, something that couldn’t be quenched by animal blood. Or even another human’s blood. My throat had never burned so hotly like it did now, my mouth never felt so dry. It felt like someone had jammed a hot poker, straight from the flames down my throat. Like my throat was the planes where a forest fire that raged towns, and cities began.

It was agonizing, it was thrilling and it was  _ dangerous _ . I never had thoughts like I did today, never thought about how easily I could have snapped the necks of everyone around to me, just to get to one girl. Even in my rebellious years, hunting the killers, I never craved human blood like I did now. 

I had to get away.

Escape Forks. I didn’t know where I would go. Denali? South? There were options, but they didn’t seem far enough. It would have been easier if the girl had just ignored me and my bad manners. No, clearly she had no idea of self-preservation. The way she chased me after she overheard me trying to switch out of biology.

Perhaps if I was human, it would have made more sense. But everything in her should have been screaming danger, to leave me alone, and especially not chase after me to confront me. No, her body, her brain, her everything should have signaled that going after me, especially alone was bad news. A giant red flag. Either the girl’s fear receptors didn’t work, or she was color blind.

One of the many downfalls of being a monster, was that I could remember every moment since turning into one with alarming clarity.

I would never forget the way that Lucina Swan smelled, nor I would be able to forget the look of indignation on her face when she chased after me. The furrow of her eyebrows, the way her large eyes narrowed, her lips pursed, jaw clenched. It would have been amusing, her kitten-ish anger, if I wasn’t so tempted to murder her.

I was nearly to the house when I skidded to a halt, my feet digging into the earth, with such force, the dirt was nearly half way up my calves. I had been so consumed by the thought of not killing her, not killing the other students in the room, not to snap the neck of Mr. Molina. I hadn’t even realized…

It took this moment to realize that I hadn’t heard any of Lucina Swan’s thoughts. I should have been able to hear all the crude things she was thinking of me and my boarish behavior. I should have struggled to block out her thoughts like I struggled to cut off the smell of her blood. Where her angry words should have shouted back at me, I heard nothing but the rushing of the blood in her veins, pumping from her heart. 

How was this possible? In all the years since I turned, there had been no one who was able to keep me out of their thoughts. Except for this girl, this ordinary girl. But then I remembered the buzz surrounding her since the moment she stepped foot into the school. Everyone had seemed so fascinated by her, where I had just seen a normal teenage girl.

A new student, in a small town. That's what I chalked it up to. She was pretty, but nothing like Rosalie or even Alice. There had to be something about her. Lucina Swan, the stolen daughter of the head ranger back to her hometown. 

My mind was being pulled in so many directions but it focused on her father. I had limited interactions with the ranger, but hunting so often and using camping as our excuse to get out of school on sunny days, it was natural that our paths had crossed. I had thought the ranger had a slow mind. But maybe he had the same natural defense to my powers that his daughter did.

I had to get out of here. Away from her and the sweet song of her blood. Away from her and her infuriating ability to keep me from reading her thoughts. 

My own personal demon, sent here to Forks just to torture me. 

I took off again, faster than before, I needed to get home to Carlisle. And tell him that I was leaving. Although I had a feeling that Alice was already home and knew my decision the second I made it. She would try and dissuade me from going. But I didn't know where I was going yet, maybe that would keep Alice from seeing my future. 

But I doubted it. 

Alice waited for me anxiously outside the door, worry etched onto her beautiful marble face. So she did see my decision, not that I was shocked, just resigned to my fate. 

Without looking, I knew the rest of my family was gathered behind the door, waiting for me, knowing that I was leaving. It didn't make it easier, not having to tell them. 

"Edward," Alice's voice was soft as she reached a hand out to me. "I'm going to miss you." My sister embraced me before I had the chance to shake her off. 

"I don't think you'll be gone long," she murmured again before releasing me. "You're doing the right thing, she's Charlie's only family."

As if that was supposed to make me feel better. 

"I think he should just do it and get it over with," I heard Emmett from inside the house, no doubt speaking to Rosalie. 

"No! I don't want to start over again." Rosalie's voice was whiny but just as clear as if she was standing next to me. She wasn't concerned with my moral dilemma, just herself which was typical for my sister. 

They both heard the growl in the back of my throat as I walked through the door and went quiet. The look on Esme and Carlisle's face echoed the same worry of Alice's. Guilt started to rise up before I felt Jasper's calming influence. 

Annoying. 

"You're doing the right thing son," Carlisle's hand rested on my shoulder. 

"Please don't stay away too long," Esme had moved past my adoptive father to hug me tightly, warmth exuding from every part of her. Esme was the heart of our family, even if she didn't have a beating one. It hurt me to hurt her.

Her golden eyes were sad but understanding. She was beautiful, my adoptive mother, just as beautiful as I remembered my human mother being. It always fascinated me the way vampirism affected us each differently. Rosalie, Carlisle and myself were impossibly pale, the venom sucking out any color we had in our human lives. 

But Esme and Emmett, with their dark skin, could never look as dead as the rest of us. Their skin had taken a certain pallor, like they were perfectly crafted from stone but retained all their melanin and all their warmth of their living days. 

I envied them at times for it.

"You can take my car, it's faster." In a blink of a human eye, Carlisle had retrieved his keys and was pressing them into my palm. 

"I packed your bag for you already," Alice cut in, as Emmett tossed the bag at me which I caught in one easy swoop. 

"Thank you," my voice felt strangled, the scent of Lucina Swan was already catching up with me. I hoped I could out run her. 

* * *

For six days, I hid in the snow banks of Alaska. Trying to avoid the Swan girl and Tanya's advances. At least I could escape Tanya. Everytime I closed my eyes, the girl was there. Taunting me with the smell of her blood. 

The longer I was away from her, the more painful it became. My escape from Forks was doing nothing. I hated her and this power she held over me. I hated her for drawing me to her like this. Not even the brisk Alaskan air could erase the girl's scent from my lungs. 

I felt like I would never be rid of her. 

Not only her smell, but her entire being. She was just a basic human girl, but my mind couldn't stop conjuring images of her face. The planes of her cheeks, the way her long dark eyelashes rested on her translucent skin. The enticing way her blood would flood her cheeks, and the delightful pink color they would turn. 

The smell of her hair that she used as a barrier between us. It was dark and lush, and I could distinctly remember the smell of strawberries mixed with the sweet floral smell of her blood. 

No matter what I did, or what I thought, I couldn't banish Cina Swan from my mind. 

Tanya tried to be a distraction, but I was even less interested than before. She held no appeal to me, as beautiful as she was. If only she could see into  _ my _ mind and see the human girl that consumed it. 

Ultimately it was Tanya that drove me back to Forks. Not her hurt feelings at my constant rejection, but her belief in me. 

The same belief that Carlisle had in me. 

I wanted to be that man, the man who faced his demons head on. Even if they were temperamental seventeen year old human girls. I didn't want to be the coward who ran away. I didn't want to hide in Alaska while I waited decades for the Swan girl to die so I could be free of her hold on me. 

No, I wanted to return to my family. To not let Lucina keep me away from Forks. I wouldn't kill her. I would control myself. I could do that much. I never doubted my courage, my self control until that wretched biology class. 

My mind was made up, Alice was sure to see my decision and I knew it would make her and Esme happy. At least my suffering would have one positive. 

What that meant for Lucina Swan, I didn't know. 

* * *

"It's going to be okay," Alice's sweet voice was at my ear, her golden eyes unfocused as my family led me into the cafeteria. Jasper walked, his hand clasped on Alice's elbow, leading the way. Her mind was focused on the future, not seeing in front of her. 

Jasper was concentrated on calming thoughts, keeping the current around us as smooth as possible. Emmett led our group, big and bulky, looking like our body guard. And enjoying every moment of it. Rosalie looked the part as well, just much more irritated about it. 

For once, we agreed on something. 

I spent the weekend filling myself with blood, to quench my thirst before setting eyes on Cina Swan. It would help, only marginally but it would be a step up from the last time I saw her. 

"Of course it will be Alice," I snapped at her. I hated being the focus of their attention and worry. Jasper didn't have to be a mind reader to pick up on it either. 

_ Annoying, isn't it? _

His thoughts were crystal clear, a smirk on his face, slightly obscured by the blonde hair that hung in the way. This is how he felt all the time, Rosalie and Emmett always on deck to jump in if necessary. Alice forever looking ahead at his future, trying to determine any danger. Me in his head, trying to figure out what he was thinking. 

"Very," I answered smoothly as we carried our trays full of human food to our usual table. 

"She will be here in a minute, but she won't be downwind," Alice let out a sigh of relief. 

I rolled my eyes. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could handle it. My nerves were stretched out tight as piano wires, ready to spring at any moment. Every sense was hyper aware of what was going on around me. Except for smell of course, I cut off my breathing to prepare for this, for this moment where I would be in the same room as Lucina Swan again. 

I was expecting to be a source of gossip after my week-long sabbatical. Mysterious disappearance. And then of course I'm sure Cina was eagerly telling the masses about how rude I was, how I most certainly scared her with my black murderous glares. For as much as Mike Newton seemed to have an obsession with the new girl, one would have thought that he would have been thinking more nasty thoughts about me and how I acted towards her.

But it seemed that the Swan girl hadn't confided in anyone about how I treated her. I was fascinated but confused at the same time. It wasn't normal. Most teenage girls would have rushed to tell their friends about what happened, to vent about the overtly rude classmate who had no reason to be so hostile. 

The confusion must have registered on my face since Emmett reached over the table and not so gently shoved me. 

"Nothing new. It doesn't seem like she told anyone…" I trailed off, still confused by her silence. Not just by her lack of telling anyone how I reacted to her, but still the curious nature of me not being able to read her mind. 

“She’s coming, act human.” Alice cut through my thoughts before I could get lost in that mystery again.

“Act human?” A grin spread across Emmett’s face which meant he had something up his sleeve. Which in this case was an actual snow ball. Of course it wouldn’t melt in his icy cold hands. So quick that a human’s eye wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, he hurled it at Alice, but she dodged it expertly. Of course, she would have seen it coming. 

“Very human, Emmett,” Rosalie hissed at him. “Do you want to punch a hole in the wall next?” 

“Nah, I think they would be more impressed if you did it babe,” Emmett leaned over, pressing his lips to her ear, all traces of irritation falling away at his adoration. 

I tried to pay attention to them, acting like I was part of their banter. I forced my shoulders to move, to mimic the impression that I was breathing, just in case any humans were looking closely, not that would be a problem. Painfully unobservant. I knew the Swan girl was coming. I could hear Jessica Stanley’s impatient thoughts, and the obnoxious fantasies of Mike Newton.

I had no reason to feel protective over the girl, not after I spent the whole time thinking of ways to kill her, and the best possibility to savor her blood. Even still, I felt like I wanted to shield her from their thoughts of her. Like a magnet, I felt my eyes drawn to her, sliding right past Jessica Stanley and onto the object of my blood lust. 

I found her looking back at me, cheeks flushed and pink from being caught staring, and glaring in my direction. I was shocked at the open hostility, although I shouldn’t have been, given how I treated her last week. I shouldn’t have expected a meek response from a girl who chased after a vampire and called him an asshole, I suppose. 

Still, it frustrated me to no end that I couldn’t see what she was thinking in that moment. To see what laid behind the intense glare before she stubbornly turned away, using her dark hair as a curtain between us, again. I was almost sad to see her go, the image of her rosy cheeks still burned into my brain. I had never tried to actively use my gift, to reach out and try to probe the walls of her mind. It had always come naturally, and most inconveniently. Still, the invisible tendrils of my ability found nothing, her thoughts were still a mystery to me. 

_ Ugh, what is it about her? Even Cullen is obsessed.  _ Jessica’s thoughts mirrored my own frustration, but with the extra added layer of high school cattiness. 

“He’s staring at you, look,” she took all the meanness out of her words, and elbowed Cina in the side, tilting her head in the direction of me and my family. I turned away, partly ashamed at my previous behavior and being caught by the objection of my suffering staring at her. 

“Does he look angry?” Cina’s voice was quiet, rough sounding, almost like she wasn’t used to using it so much but still clear as a bell to my ears. Like they were perfectly attuned to anything she would say. 

Annoying. 

“No, why would he be?” Oh, Cina had caught her attention with that quip, she was ready to launch into a full scale investigation. Perhaps, I didn’t want to know what the Swan girl was thinking, if nothing else to escape Jessica Stanley’s reignited obsession with me. 

“Because he was a total douchebag to me before his vanishing act,” Cina scoffed, taking an extra moment to slam her lunch tray down onto her table while looking pointedly in my direction. I could feel her gaze on the back of my head but I refused to turn and look at her. I wouldn’t give Emmett the satisfaction, who was laughing not so silently against Rose’s blonde hair. 

She had clearly confused Jess, who like most girls in our school, had tried to catch my eye and failed miserably. She thought the Swan girl must have been ill, or mentally slow not revel in the fact that she caught me staring at her. How very shallow and predictable of her. 

But a surprising reaction from Lucina. I had expected her ire, but I had never met anyone so vocal about it. Most people, like Mike Newton, seethed silently, glaring at me and my siblings behind our backs but making a point to put on a friendly face on the rare occasions we would have to speak. They at least tried to be polite, which didn’t seem like it was on Cina’s agenda.

For the next hour, it was a battle of wills between me and Cina. Fighting over which one would break first, and look in the other’s direction. I had the upper hand, naturally with my enhanced senses. I could feel her shifting in her seat, body angled towards me, sensing the rise of her chin, anticipating her eyes sliding over to our table, even for a second. But to her credit, she never budged. She came close, but always decided against it last second, and instead chose to blankly stare at the wall across the cafeteria, clearly blocking out the inane conversation of the children around her. 

The bell rang, and the humans got up, slowly shuffling from their seats, filing out of the cafeteria to rush to their next class. Only myself and my siblings remained, silent for a beat while I tried to decipher the sound of Cina’s footsteps above anyone else’s. A very annoying, and worrisome reaction. 

“I think it will be okay,” Alice was hesitant, but hopeful. Perhaps my curiosity would keep the girl alive for another day, another hour spent at my side. “Your mind is mostly set.”

“Why push it, Edward? You should take it slow.” Jasper was trying to be reassuring, genuine in his feelings, but I knew there was a layer of smugness under it all. He wasn’t the problem child today, struggling with the urge to kill all of the humans. 

“What does it matter? Either he eats her, or not.” Emmett grinned, flashing all of his teeth at us. 

“Shut up Em,” Rosalie shoved her many times over husband, the tiniest of grins lifting up the corners of her perfectly shaped mouth. “We are almost finished with highschool, I already said, I’m not starting over again.” 

That comment was directed at me and me alone, a threat. She didn’t care about the human, didn’t understand why she was so special (and was definitely trying to push out any thoughts of jealousy that she had captured my attention when Rosalie did not), I could kill her for all Rosalie cared, but she did not want to start over another round of highschool and would personally rip me to pieces if I messed that up for her. 

Charming as always, my first sister.

I was torn on the decision. I didn’t want to push my luck, be the monster I knew I was capable of being. I couldn’t go another hour wrestling all the ways I could kill a classroom of humans again. I wanted so badly to be the person Carlisle thought I was. Even the person Tanya thought I was, someone who faced his problems head on. But I wasn’t sure Tanya meant forcing myself into a small room with the most potent, sweet smelling blood I had ever encountered when she complimented me. 

Still, I was curious. It was more than the appeal of her blood. It was the appeal of her thoughts. I needed to figure her out. I craved it more than any degree I ever obtained, more than any one piece of knowledge. I had to know. 

_ I had to see her face again.  _

The thought popped into my head before I could edit it away. It made me glad that I was the only one with the ability to read minds in our family. The girl I had once considered ordinary at first glance was in my head, with every unneeded and unnecessary blink. Where I saw plainness before, I now saw a different kind of beauty. I was only seeing her from the dull senses of a human’s eye. I couldn’t trust Mike Netwon’s or Erick Yorkie’s perception of beauty. I saw it for myself, in the gentle slope of her nose. In the dark waves of her hair. In the anger of her gaze when she looked at me. 

“Just go to class, it will be fine.” I got up, pushing the thoughts out of my head. I didn’t have time to wax and wane poetry about a human girl’s unusual beauty. I had to make it through an hour of biology without killing her first.

* * *

Thanks to my enhanced speed, I wasn’t late for class, but arrived after Cina Swan did. The poor girl was already seated at our shared table, head down, dark hair cascading around her. I still had a moment before the bell, so I took that time to inhale deeply, sucking in all the clean, fresh air that my lungs could hold. 

I knew eventually I would have to breathe in around her, but this would save me some of the fiery burn to start. It was something. 

The girl didn’t even look up at me as I entered the room, careful not to breath yet. I made a point to loudly pull out my chair, humans tended to like that, the noise as you approached them. She let out a huff of annoyance, but didn’t look up at me, still concentrated on her doodle. It was mindless scribbles, but it gave me more insight to her mind than what I was currently working with. 

I wonder if she was frightened by me, I certainly gave her reason last week. I wanted to make a different impression on her this time, leaving my hideous reaction a thing in the past. I was still nervous that she would tell someone how I acted last week, and I was desperate to change her perception of me. 

“Hello,” I said quietly, using that soft soothing voice that humans seemed to respond too. I fixed a polite smile onto my face, sure not to flash my teeth at her. 

I saw her roll her eyes before turning and facing me completely, eyes narrowed.

“Why do you want to talk to me all of a sudden?” 

For a moment I forgot this was supposed to be a two sided conversation. I stared into her deep brown eyes, full of annoyance and all the hate I felt for her up this moment had simply evaporated. Without the sweet allure of her blood, I couldn’t bring myself to hate her. Even with her glaring, her cheeks began to flush and I couldn’t bring myself to hate someone who looked so delicate. 

I kept my eyes on hers, knowing I could speak a little longer without inhaling again. I didn’t want to think about the blood flooding in her cheeks, under her translucent skin. 

“My name is Edward Cullen,” I knew she knew. Of course did. But it was rude to assume. “I wasn’t feeling well last week,” I lied easily. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself, you are Cina Swan, right?”

She looked confused a minute, her dark and thick eyebrow rising on her forehead. “How’d you know that?”

“Your name?” Now I was confused. “You are still the talk of the school.” How could I not know who she was at this point? Maybe there was nothing special about her, and the reason I couldn’t read her mind was that she simply had no thoughts. “It seems like the whole town has been waiting for you.”

“No, that I go by Cina. I’m pretty sure Charlie, my dad, has been calling me Lucina behind my back.” 

“Do you prefer Lucina?” I was still confused, nearly everyone after the first day mentally referred to her as Cina, rather than Lucina. 

“No, I like Cina. I just didn’t tell  _ you _ that.” 

Ah, that’s what it was. I should have been more careful. I couldn’t exactly tell her that I had picked up her nickname from the thoughts of our classmates. 

“Oh,” I looked away from her quickly, annoyed with myself. How astute of her, most humans wouldn’t have picked up on it. Just accepted the use of their nickname and let it go. I felt a pang of unease at my slip up and how quickly she picked up on it. Not only that, but despite the thoughts of Mike, Angela, or Jessica thinking that she seemed quiet and shy, that she was so quick to say something about it. 

But I was out of air, if I wanted to see where her head was at, to see what thoughts she had about me, I needed to breathe. I could have probably left it at that, but we had a lab today and it wouldn’t help my image not to speak to her for another hour. 

The pain was almost blinding when I finally inhaled again. It didn’t matter if I braced myself for it or not, nothing could prepare me for the pain. I turned away from her, hands gripping the metal chair, locking myself in place. There was some comfort though in this, if I decided to kill her, Alice would be watching for me this time and she would stop me from causing too much carnage. 

The craving was just as strong as the first moment I had met her, even without smelling her. My throat felt like it was being washed in flames, every swallow hurt and it took all my self control that I had learned in the last century not to give in and attack her. 

Instead I ground my teeth, and urged myself to get it together. 

“Get started,” Mr. Molina called out, waving a dismissive hand at the front of the classroom. 

Cina Swan was staring back down at her doodles, clearly put off by my lack of reasoning. I watched her tuck her hair behind her ear, and nervously look over at me, like I was capable of biting her head off at any second. 

Which I guess I was.

“Ladies first?” I offered her the microscope, pushing it in her direction and pulling back quickly so our hands wouldn’t touch. She didn’t say anything, mostly just seeming shocked that I spoke to her again. “Or I could start?”

“No, I’ll do it.” Cina stubbornly reached over our supplies, her white teeth poking out just long enough to bite down on her bottom lip. I had to suck in another breath at that moment, through my clenched teeth. 

It still hurt. Putting it mildly. It was like flames were licking at my throat, burning away my stone cold flesh. I wanted to lash out, strike the microscope, fling it across the room. Instead I dug my fingers into my palm and hoped the look on my face wasn’t too strained.

“Prophase,” Cina Swan decided quickly, already moving to pull the slide and replace it. 

“Do you mind if I look?” I’m not sure why I asked. I had no reason to doubt her, but the look on her face was enough to tell me she considered it rude. Stupidly, I was already reaching out, as if to stop her from removing the slide. For one brief second, before the warmth of her hand burned into mine, I felt a surge of electricity pass between us, almost as if an actual live wire connected us. 

“Sorry,” I mumbled at her, jaw clenched tightly as she pulled back quickly, shocked no doubt by the coldness of my touch. “Prophase,” I agreed with her quickly, still too unsettled to look in her direction. Instead, I concentrated unnecessarily on writing down the answer in neat cursive. Anything to avoid thinking about how cold my hand must have felt to her. Again, I wish I could read her mind, to confirm the repulsion I was sure was there. 

“Anaphase,” I had already removed and replaced the slides, barely needing to glance at it, but still taking my time. 

“Do you mind if I look?” Her tone was mocking, hand outstretched for the microscope. Her face was annoyed, but not afraid or disgusted like I thought it would have been. 

She looked thoroughly disappointed when she realized my answer was right, and she couldn’t correct me. Instead, Cina reached over, careful not to touch my cold hands again, but still close enough where I could feel the heat radiating off of her, and grabbed my paper from underneath me to scrawl the answer under mine. 

Her handwriting was not nearly as neat or careful as mine. 

I could hear the snarky thoughts of Mike several rows behind, wishing I hadn’t come back. Clearly, he thought he had some sort of chance with the Swan girl and now harbored some ill will towards me. I realized a beat later that the feeling was mutual. I’m not sure how I thought Lucina was plain when I first saw her, now that I wasn’t overcome with my blood lust, I was able to get a good look at her. 

She wasn’t a classic beauty, at least not the kind that most appreciated. She had a pointed chin, wide cheekbones, large eyes. The extreme contrast of her milky skin to her dark hair. Her face was interesting to look at, something new to discover each time you looked at her. 

I didn’t realize I had been staring at her, looking deep into her eyes as if trying to unlock her secrets just by force of will, until she spoke to me again. 

“Did you get contacts?” 

“No.” Her question surprised me, strange. 

“Your eyes are a different color today,” her voice sounded doubtful, clearly not believing my answer. 

Damn. 

If I could have only read her thoughts, I would have been able to avoid the slip up. Most humans didn’t even notice, or thought they were imagining things if they did notice. They tended to look away from our beautiful faces quickly, their instincts telling them that we were dangerous. I didn’t know what to say now, so I just shrugged and pulled back the paper, as if I were checking our answers. 

What was with this girl?

Mr. Molina was making his rounds, stopping briefly at our table to spare me from this conversation, seemingly satisfied we finished so quickly while the rest of our class were still deciding on the first slide. 

Despite not being able to read Cina’s mind, I was able to glean some information about her from Mr. Molina’s mind, he remembered that she was in an advanced placement in Arizona which explained why she found the lab so easy. Interesting. 

Still, it meant there was time to kill now, a reminder to myself to think better on my feet around her. She reminded me how complacent I got being able to read minds with my extra sense, conversations came too easily. It had been a long time since I was on equal footing with someone. I was still trying to make a better impression on her than I did last week. 

“It’s too bad about the snow, isn’t it?” It was a cop out, talking about the weather, but it was an easy topic, one I couldn’t slip up again. 

“Not really,” Cina snorted, head down, doodling into the margins of her notebook. Mindless loops, and scribbles, but it gave me a peak into her mind. 

“You don’t like the cold weather, then?” 

“No. It sucks,” she glanced back in my direction, looking at me again through the curtain of her hair. 

“Living in Forks must be torture for you then. Why did you move here?” It was hard to keep a conversation going, with the burning thirst in my throat but I was curious. 

“Long story,” she shrugged me off, immediately assuming that I wouldn’t be interested. I shouldn’t be interested. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve done, trying to befriend the human whose blood smelled so sweet and potent to me.

“I’m certain I can keep up.” I’m not sure why I was being so persistent, and again borderline rude with her. But it was driving me mad that I didn’t know what she was thinking, that I couldn’t effortlessly know everything I needed to know about her right off the bat. 

“You’re nosy,” Cina turned to look at me fully now, her thick dark eyebrows furrowed, causing a crease between them. I had the sudden urge to reach over, wanting to use my thumb to smooth the wrinkles on her face, wipe away the annoyance. If I didn’t think I would try to murder her after touching her skin again, or Cina wouldn’t strike me, I might be tempted to actually do it. 

“My mother got remarried,” she continued after an awkward pause. Very human, and easy to understand. 

“That doesn’t seem too complex,” I meant it mostly jokingly, but still speaking in that low calming voice that humans tended to respond best to. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t having to work at keeping it that way like I usually do. 

“Her new husband travels a lot, he plays baseball.” She had a bit of a smile on her face this time, clearly there was some affinity for her new step father, not a case of disliking him at least. Her small smile mirrored on my own face, infectious without trying.

“Oh? Is he famous? I’m afraid I don’t follow a lot of baseball.” I didn’t want to sound rude and tell her that I found most sports, especially human sports, boring if she liked her step father. 

“No,” Cina rolled her eyes at me again, something she was clearly fond of doing. That, and that boarish unlady like snort. “Very minor league.”

“So she sent you to be with your father?” That would make sense. 

“No, I chose to come up here. I was the one tired of moving around, she’s hopeless without me.” There was an edge to her voice this time, something that clearly said this topic was over with. Resentment. If anything this made me curious about her. I wanted to know about her hopeless mother, and her new husband.

Which I found extremely irritating. It was painful sitting here talking with her, not because she was boring, but physically painful. This Cina Swan had upheaved my life with just her appearance in Forks, and I should have wanted to stay from her so I didn’t kill her because I couldn’t keep the monster inside of me contained. 

“Besides, it was time I spent some quality time with Charlie anyways,” she cut through my thoughts, clearly forcing herself to sound lighter, less angry. “He needs me more.”

“Aren’t you unhappy then, living someplace where it’s cold and rainy all the time when you hate it?”

“So what,” there was that snort from her again. Blowing off any notion of selfishness for herself. Ranking her own wants below others. 

“That seems rather unfair,” I answered, evenly, watching her from the corner of my eye. Lucina seemed to have no trouble with prolonged eye contact with me, like so many other mortals did. No sense of self preservation, this one. I watched her face go through a variety of emotions, annoyance, that small spike of anger and then a resigned sadness. 

“Life isn’t fair,” her answer was simple and to the point, the crease between her eyebrows was back. Again, I resisted the urge to reach out and smooth her skin down, knowing that not only was it wildly inappropriate but dangerous. For me, for her. 

“I may have heard that once or twice.” I shrugged at her, trying too hard to make it seem like I didn’t care if the conversation died away even though I didn’t want it too. 

Cina didn’t respond, indeed letting the conversation drop, instead turning away from me, that look of annoyance crossing over her features again. 

“Am I annoying you?” I couldn’t help myself, it would seem. 

“Yeah, kinda.” Surprised again. The girl clearly didn’t care about seeming rude or off putting. She said whatever she wanted, with what seemed like no buffer between her brain and her mouth. But I couldn’t hear her thoughts to confirm that. “Also you talk like an old person, it’s weird.”

Was there no end to what this girl would notice about me? It had been over a hundred years since I was changed, and although I had adapted the way I spoke to not sound out of place, Alice often teased me that I still sounded much older than I looked. 

“Well, you’re very harsh,” I countered back at her, finding it easier to read her face the more time I talked to her. Not surprisingly, Cina didn’t flinch, just stared me dead in the eye and shrugged. 

Not even when I smiled fully at her, pulling back my lips to reveal my mouthful of gleaming, razor sharp teeth. It was foolish and impulsive. But she was being rude, and I was desperate to show her that she should be afraid. She should be afraid of looking me directly in the eye, long enough to discern my changing eye color. She should be afraid of getting too close to me where I could feel the warmth of her skin, the beating of her heart, the rush of blood in her veins loud in my ears. 

If anything, my attempt to scare her backfired, the girl leaned in closer, a snarl of her own taking over her features. A challenge. I held my breath, trying to quiet the monster that urged me to reach for her. She had no idea what she was doing, what danger she was putting herself in. What danger I was putting her in, and myself in by continuing to pry information out of her. She couldn’t afford for me to find her fascinating.

I didn’t have a chance to react to her boldness since Mr. Molina called the class back to order and as quick as she was to lean in towards me, she snapped back straight in her seat, eyes back onto our teacher. 

Without her curious, overly observant eyes on me, I chose that moment to inhale deeply, filling my lungs with air. Just as she haughtily tossed her hair over her shoulder in my direction, sending a new, searing pain down my throat. The pain was dizzying, hitting me full on like a wrecking ball. If I was standing, it would have been hard for me to stay on my feet. My mouth had never felt dryer, but I was more prepared this time and cut off my breathing again to quell the beast inside.

The bell rang, and quite impertinently of me, I was on my feet rushing for the door. At least time, I remembered where I was, and moved at a more human pace, but quickly, to get away from Cina. 

I needed to put distance between us, as much as possible before I took another breath. 

Emmett was waiting for me, a look of confusion and impish glee on his handsome face. He worried for me, as family but he clearly thought my predicament was amusing. His thoughts told me so. 

“No one died,” I mumbled at him, answering his thoughts and pushing past him to get into Spanish class, finding myself wishing for the silence of Lucina Swan’s mind. 

“Ooh, she’s dangerous.” Emmett didn’t need to hear about how my class went, he could see it all on my face.

I thought again of her innocent face, wide eyed and porcelain skin. Features that could have been considered doll-like. The thought of her being dangerous to someone like me had a laugh start to bubble up in my chest. 

But then I remembered the way she leaned in towards me, the way she snarled back at me, issuing her own challenge, a battle of wills and the laugh died in my still burning throat. 

Lucina Swan was very dangerous, and I needed to remember that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEW!
> 
> So sorry for the wait on this chapter. I meant to have it done LAST week, but then my mother in law decided to randomly come visit with very little warning. Also, starting a new fic at the same time as starting a new job? Not my smartest decision. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the trip into Edward's POV for this chapter. I wanted to bring some of Midnight Sun to my fix it, so I wanted to try my hand at Edward. He is very dramatic but a lot of fun. The chapter is a little bit longer than normal, so I hope no one is bothered by that! Please let me know if this is something you would want me to continue or if you'd rather the whole story to be told from Cina's POV!
> 
> Hopefully updates will be coming a little faster! But don't hate me if there's some time between chapters, haha. Please let me know what you think, reviews/comments/etc make my entire day!! Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright first chapter done! Please let me know what you think! I want to keep the same vibes the original series but fix the stupid shit Stephanie Meyer came up with. I recently reread the books and watched the movies and felt like there was a lot of potential in the series, but poorly written and imagined haha. I wanted to build on the tiny glimpses of personality that Bella (now named Cina) and the rest of the Cullens were given. 
> 
> I also have recasted the characters to people who I felt fit my version of them, and to include more diversity. I'll start posting on my tumblr, linked in my profile! I would love to hear from you and see what you think!


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